


dart

by uwujinism



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A little bit of violence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, LITERALLY, Lowercase, M/M, bin lix and in are mentioned once, i need more variety in the woochan tag stop writing only insomnia fics, i think, jisung isnt even in there by name but if you tilt your head ninety degrees youll find him, lowkey based on crack but it gets more serious, minsung if you squint, nothing too graphic but stay safe, oh also woojin swears like once idk if that needs to be put as a warning, seungjin are a thing because i can and i love them, standalone work but i might write a sequel someday bc damn i love this au, woojin is a spy and chan is a stressed college student, yes the title is a hyuna song what are you gonna do about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-19 04:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15502296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwujinism/pseuds/uwujinism
Summary: 'if you want to live give me all your money''bold of you to assume that i want to live and also have money'or: the spy au literally no one asked for





	dart

**Author's Note:**

> hello i'm back with another au literally no one asked for but i wrote anyway!
> 
> i need more variety for woochan on here so my drafts are now filled with over ten different au ideas for woochan and them only idk look forward to that maybe? this is only the beginning hehe
> 
> if this feels fastpaced or patch-worky at some points it's because i wrote this over the course of over a month and i jumped between the parts i wrote i'm sorry i did my best and personally i'm quite happy with it oof
> 
> this was lowkey inspired by [this tweet](https://twitter.com/lgbtop/status/1022145185134694402) but it went in an unexpected direction lol
> 
> i hope you enjoy this!! show woochan some well-deserved love thank u

‘do you have your earpiece in?’, minho asks while typing the password into his laptop.

woojin subconsciously reaches for his left ear despite knowing that the earpiece is inside and turned on already. he nods.

minho glances at him before clicking a few more things on his laptop. ‘your tracker is on? i don’t need another hyunjin situation.’

the last sentence wasn’t necessarily meant for woojin’s ears but it still makes him smile a little. he confirms and minho hums contentedly.

‘good. let’s go.’

the younger doesn’t even look up from the screen as woojin pulls down his mask and opens the car door. minho mumbles a muffled good luck and it sounds a little funny because he can hear it through his earpiece but also coming directly from the others mouth at the same time. the gravel crunches under his feet as he makes his way to the building in front of him. it’s completely dark, except for the sparsely luminiferous lantern next to the back door.

as expected picking the lock is a piece of cake, which makes woojin worry a little for the residents of this kind of shabby dormitory. minho puts his mind back onto the mission by hissing at him to get a move on and woojin slowly makes his way through the corridors.

there’s a blackboard with outdated club admission posters and exam dates to his right and he briefly wonders how no one bothered to remove a theatre club advert from 2006 by now. the fire alarm to his left is broken. shouldn’t someone be taking care of this?

‘you’re half a metre from the coverage angle of the first cctv. i can freeze the ones on your way for about a minute, that will buy you enough time to get to room 103,’ minho explains to him through the earpiece. woojin adjusts his mask.

‘your time starts… now!’

it takes woojin exactly 32 seconds to get to the first floor and an additional nine to get to room 103. minho gives out a small whistle.

‘41 seconds, not bad kim. next time study the blueprints more intricately beforehand so you don’t have to rely on the signs inside the house to find the room and you’ll make it in 36.’

woojin wants to scoff but he is on a mission and he’s a professional so he rolls his eyes instead. he reaches into his pocket and starts picking the lock of the room. in his ear, minho explains to him that the camera on this corridor is ‘out of order’ anyway, meaning he can take all the time he needs.

for woojin, all the time he needs are exactly the seven seconds minho spends telling him about the broken security cam and the lock clicks satisfyingly just as minho finishes his sentence. he frowns when he sees a small cone of light breaking through the door as he carefully pushes it open, not enough for it to creak but enough for him to fit.

‘there’s light, minho.’

it takes a little longer than usual for minho to respond and woojin almost thinks the other is ignoring him on purpose.

‘proceed. if he’s awake - which i really don’t think, by the way, the dude hasn’t slept in four days - do plan b.’

the room is half-divided by a screen behind which minho can make out a boy sitting at a table. the light source is a desk lamp on said table and the boy appears to be hunched over some books. in the back of his mind woojin prays that he’s fallen asleep over them.

‘place the bug underneath the coffee table in the middle of the room. it’s about 1.8 metres northeast from you.’

woojin wants to return a snappy comment about him not being the blind one out of them both but he keeps his mouth shut in favour of not alarming the room’s inhabitant.

his steps are even more careful than usual and he safely makes it to the coffee table without a single creaky floorboard. he almost wants to be proud of himself as he safely places the bug in the centre of the table’s lower surface but you’re not supposed to count your chicken before they’re hatched.

apparently, he’s the only one to remember that saying though, because in his ear minho lets out a quiet but victorious squeak.

woojin is almost back at the door when he hears the floorboards creak. he didn’t move, so it wasn’t him making the noise. that means…

‘who are you?’

woojin curses internally and he can hear minho inhale sharply through his earpiece. within a matter of seconds, he has pulled out the gun from his belt and aimed it at the other boy.

‘if you want to live, give me all your money.’ in moments like these he wants to curse himself for not having a darker, more raspy voice. he admits that he doesn't sound very threatening.

the boy tilts his head to the side. ‘bold of you to assume i want to live and also have any money.’

woojin almost drops his gun. he practically hears minho’s shock through the silence in his ear.

the boy across from him crosses his arms. ‘listen mr. burglar, i have a paper due in five hours and i really need to finish it so can we get this over with? i really have no money, you can check if you want to.’

the boy’s hair is a big, dark, curly mop and he’s wearing a red hoodie that looks like it’s been worn for too long to be socially acceptable. woojin frowns.

in his ear minho hisses at him to stop staring and do something and so he slowly lowers the gun and puts it back into his belt.

‘good luck with your paper,’ he says, before turning and leaving, a lot less carefully than he came in.

he makes it back to the car in exactly 43.2 seconds and minho applauds him but he can’t really bring himself to return a genuine smile.

**⇜ ⇝**

‘don’t beat yourself up about this, you planted the bug and the mission was a success.’ hyunjin sets down the tray he is carrying on their usual table and pulls back a chair. he groans in protest when minho takes the opportunity to sit in said chair and give hyunjin an innocent smile as well as a melodic ‘thank you, hyunjinnie!’ it doesn’t take his professional spy training for woojin to see the fondness in hyunjin’s eyes despite the faked annoyance.

‘i’m just worried. what if he’s suspicious? what if he goes to the police?’ he steals a french fry from hyunjin’s plate.

minho sighs. ‘first of all, the guy was way too sleep deprived to be suspecting anything. second of all, even if he went to the police there’s nothing he can hold against you. there’s nothing missing from his apartment, you weren’t caught on any security footage and all locks in the building are as functional as they were before.’

hyunjin nods. ‘minho’s right, don’t worry so much.’

the chair creaks a little as woojin leans back. ‘i guess you’re right. it just bugs me that he saw me, i’ve never messed up a mission like that.’

‘there’s a first time for everything,’ minho says, popping one of hyunjin’s fries into his mouth.

the youngest frowns. ‘would you two please stop eating my food?’

minho giggles and woojin smiles sweetly yet both of them reach out to the plate again. hyunjin just sighs.

**⇜ ⇝**

carrying out a mission in broad daylight always makes both woojin and minho a little antsy, not because the risk of being blown is higher. (it actually isn’t, because no one expects anything fishy to be happening during the day.) it has more to do with both of them being used to night shifts and something about fucked up sleep schedules mixed with the fact that minho is convinced that woojin’s acting skills are way too poor for an active field agent. one time woojin almost retaliated a snarky remark with a comment about how the younger would need to prove him that he was any better first, but there is a reason why minho doesn’t do field work anymore and woojin knows better than to provoke the other about it.

‘okay listen,’ minho’s voice is a little too loud in his ear and woojin winces a little. ‘this time the plan is really foolproof. there is no one else on duty today except for yang jeongin and that guy is at home sick. your disguise is perfect, nothing can go wrong this time.’

woojin rolls his eyes, blissfully aware that minho can’t see him. ‘who are you reassuring, me or yourself?’

minho doesn’t answer his question and instead moves on to talk about something unrelated to the mission which woojin tunes out. he slides his key card through the lock and the door opens with a light click.

‘the password to the administration pc is-’

‘on the back of the card, minho i’ve got this.’

the reply is a small hum and woojin smiles a little. minho continues his story as woojin types in the password. crippling the servers and deleting the files in question is easy, it’s one of the few things at work he takes pride in being better at than hyunjin. in his ear, minho is still talking about something completely off-topic. woojin catches the words ‘studio’ and ‘boyfriend’ and makes a mental note to ask minho about that later.

the more complicated part though is resetting the servers and making it look like a technical malfunction. minho moves on with his story but this time woojin can’t even concentrate on it enough to take up scraps of the conversation, too emerged in the task at hand. he’d have to ask about it later.

**⇜ ⇝**

twelve minutes later minho still hasn’t stopped talking but at least woojin is finally close to finishing the job.

‘excuse me, you work here, right?’

he almost doesn’t hear the question, too immersed in the screen and already slightly irritated by minho’s babbling in his ear but as the younger abruptly stops speaking woojin is startled. he looks up to see a gruesomely familiar boy with a mop of curly black hair standing in the doorway.

‘yes, i uh-’ of course he would start stammering now of all times.

‘listen, i have a really important paper due in half an hour so do you know when the server will be back up?’ the boy in the doorway sheepishly scratches his neck and woojin doesn’t really know where to look for a second so he lets his eyes dart back to the screen. minho coughs into his ear.

‘it’s just a minor malfunction, it shouldn’t be too long. you will be able to send your paper in about ten minutes, i think.’

the curly haired boy nods and smiles. ‘that’s a relief. i really can’t afford to fail this class.’

woojin clears his throat awkwardly and turns back to the screen. that really wasn’t his problem right now. he hears minho giggle into his ear and almost curses at him. almost, because minho is already nagging at him to continu you his task.

**⇜ ⇝**

if he had known the exact location of the mission, he never would have agreed to taking it off of hyunjin’s hands. not even for the promise of paying for his lunch for a week.

if hyunjin hadn’t bribed him to do this mission, he wouldn’t be stuck in this  _situation_ right now.

‘are you a comp science major? since you knew how to fix the servers.’ the boy with the dark curly hair is sitting in front of him sipping on a cup of milk coffee that woojin is pretty sure he saw him pour three bags of sugar in. apparently, his name is chan and he decided to talk to woojin after seeing him at the café.

chan expects an answer and woojin decides that going along with the other's story is the easiest way out so he just nods. his eyes nervously dart through the window behind chan to the closed down tattoo parlour on the opposite side of the street.

he distinctly remembers hyunjin saying ‘it’s not even a hard mission, you just need to check if our suspicion about the dead drop is correct. you don’t even need to make an offence.’ right now the mission feels a lot harder than some of the open offences he had to do before. chan still hasn’t stopped talking.

‘anyway i’ve never seen you on campus before, but you look like you’re a senior too? how come?’ chan asks, taking another sip from his coffee.

woojin lets his fingers roam over his cup as he contemplates the answer. out of all the missions he had to do this one without minho guiding him through his earpiece. he would never admit that to him but minho’s rambling and permanent questioning helps him a lot. it’s always a kind of reassurance.

‘i transferred recently. but you’re right, i’m a senior too.’ woojin prays to whoever is watching over him that chan won’t question his hesitant and vague answers too much. minho might have been right when he said woojin’s acting skills were pretty terrible for a secret agent who fakes it for a living. that’s another thing that woojin would never admit to his face though.

chan is smiling. woojin’s eyes dart behind the other’s curly mop of hair to the tattoo parlour again. it looks just as abandoned as before. he wants to strangle hyunjin.

while he is planning how to best get back at hyunjin, chan keeps talking about his schoolwork. at least he stopped asking woojin questions about himself and he can get away with occasionally nodding or humming understandingly. the tattoo parlour stays untouched.

just as chan is taking the last sip from his coffee (he added another pack of sugar somewhere during the conversation and woojin is wondering how he can even drink that) woojin feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

a quick look at it confirms his guess. _you have (_ **_1_ ** _) new messages from_ **_hyunjin_** _._ he taps on the screen.

_abort mission._

the phone vibrates again.

_they realised that we’ve been tailoring the location for a while_

woojin lets out a heavy sigh. _you could have told me that before i made a fool out of myself_ , he types before pocketing his phone again.

chan is looking at him with a question mark written all over his face so woojin smiles apologetically and gets up.

‘i need to pick up my little brother, he got lost.’

technically that wasn’t even a lie. hyunjin was practically his brother and he totally got lost with this apparent _lead_. ‘sorry to cut this short.’

‘no, it’s fine.’ chan shakes his head. ‘i get it, i also have a younger brother. i’ll see you around?’

the last sentence sounds like a question so woojin bites his lips and nods vaguely. he’d rather not repeat this disaster but chan doesn’t have to know that.

**⇜ ⇝**

‘why isn’t seungmin doing this anymore?’ woojin is well aware that he sounds like a whiny brat but it’s _minho_ he’s talking to and he practically _owns_ that title meaning, he had no right to call woojin out on it.

‘he’s on vacation. well-deserved, by the way, he hasn’t had one since last year,’ minho replies dryly. his open hand is still hovering in front of woojin’s chest, the black flash drive staring at him accusingly.

woojin sighs and takes the flash drive from minho. at least he doesn’t have to take over one of hyunjin’s missions again. speaking of which…

‘why isn’t hyunjin doing it? he’s seungmin’s partner, that’s supposed to be his job.’

minho shakes his head. ‘they’re on vacation together, you doofus.’ he raises an eyebrow. ‘do you ever listen when we talk?’ his tone is a little irritated but woojin can’t really blame him for that. then, in a lower tone, minho continues, ‘hyunjin’s gonna pop the question.’

‘oh.’ woojin’s mouth falls open and he doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. ‘oh my god, i’m so sorry i forgot about that.’

minho gives him a _tsk_ and lightly shoves him towards his desk. ‘just do your work. i won’t tell hyunjin you forgot his _engagement._ ’ the words sound like a threat but there’s no real bite to minho’s voice. a little bit of tension leaves woojin’s shoulders.

**⇜ ⇝**

technically surveillance missions should be his favourites because he doesn’t have to talk to anyone or pretend to be someone he isn’t but something about them makes him uncomfortable. _maybe it’s the fact that you’re literally stalking someone_ , a little voice inside his head helpfully adds. he plugs the flash drive into his laptop (obviously failing for the first try, like any sane human) and flips through the pages of the report minho left on his desk while the device is starting.

at least this one is audio only. that feels a little less invasive. and it’s for a good cause, they’re trying to find a link to a drug cartel after all. this could make the city significantly safer. at least that’s what he tells himself as he puts on his headphones.

it’s forenoon, so he doesn’t really expect anything to happen. as students, chan, as well as his friends, would probably be in a lecture or something right now. woojin pulls out his phone and opens candy crush. might as well.

it’s 2.43pm when he first hears something. it’s a key turning in a lock and some muffled voices. woojin can make out two different ones (chan’s and another, unfamiliar one) but the footsteps shuffling inside suggest a third person.

woojin grabs his notebook and a pen from the desk and starts writing out a list.

**⇜ ⇝**

it’s 7.01pm when chan’s two friends, changbin and felix, leave. woojin’s list contains exactly eight points by then.

 

> 1\. felix’s voice is too deep for your usual university student but his footsteps say he’s not any taller or heavier than chan
> 
> 2\. he’s also the youngest of the group, going by the honorifics he (mostly) addresses the other two with
> 
> 3\. changbin likes to act cute for some reason (the high pitched ‘binnie binnie changbinnie’ is engraved in woojin’s brain forever)
> 
> 4\. somehow changbin’s acting works on both chan and felix
> 
> 5\. chan is definitely the dad of the group
> 
> 6\. they all have the same econ teacher and they all hate him
> 
> 7\. neither felix nor changbin have anything to do with his mission
> 
> 8\. the suspect jeongwoong will be meeting chan at his dorm room sometime next week

on the bottom of the list there is another point that woojin quickly crosses out. 

 

> ~~9\. chan’s laugh is really adorable~~

**⇜ ⇝**

it’s 3.54am when woojin’s eyelids start to feel heavier and he catches himself dozing off a few times. it makes him wonder if chan will ever fall asleep. he has added four new points to his list.

 

 

> 10\. felix isn’t chan’s friend but his brother (their mum called)
> 
> 11\. they’re both from australia and moved to korea for university
> 
> 12\. chan’s english name is chris (woojin faintly remembers reading something like that on the file minho gave him)
> 
> 13\. jeongwoong never does his part of a group project on time (woojin doesn’t think he expected anything else from a possible drug dealer but it’s a nice offense to add to his profile.)

this time again, there’s a crossed out point at the bottom of the list.

 

 

> ~~14\. chan sings to himself when he’s alone and his voice is really soft and nice~~

**⇜ ⇝**

woojin falls asleep in his office chair. when he wakes up there’s a blanket wrapped around him that he doesn’t remember getting and the room is filled with so much light that woojin has to blink a few times before he can really see anything again. the red digits of the clock on the wall show something a little past noon. his ears register the faint tapping of a keyboard and a soft humming coming from across the room.

somehow the scenery is weirdly comforting, despite the fact that his neck hurts a bit from sleeping in a weird position and he probably looks like a mess. he sits up straight and reaches for his glasses (he doesn’t remember taking them off last night but at least he didn’t sleep with contacts in) on the desk. his phone lights up with a notification a few seconds later.

 _you have (_ **_3_ ** _) new messages from_ **_hyunjin, seungmin_ ** _._

he opens seungmin’s message first and smiles a little when he finds a selfie of him and hyunjin with seungmin proudly showing off a simple silver ring with a tiny, pale blue gem on his left ring finger. he types a quick _congratulations!_ and adds a few complimentary emojis before clicking away to hyunjin’s chat.

 _hyung, i’m nervous_ [yesterday; 10.03pm]

woojin grins. he feels a little bad for not being able to provide comfort but everything worked out and at least he had something to tease hyunjin with now. two can play that game.

 _minho tells me you were busy doing my work, sucks to be you i guess_ [one minute ago]

woojin scoff and closes the app. there is to need to encourage the younger in his disrespect any further.

he places his phone back on the desk and his eyes land on a pink sticky note that he definitely did not put there. it’s one from seungmin’s desk but the handwriting on it suggests the doings of a certain freeloader (read: minho) who only very seldom uses his own things.

_sort out ur notes from last night pls ;)_

_keep up the surveillance for another night too_

_i expect finished report by thurs. then u can take the wknd off_

woojin shudders at the use of the winky face and sticks the note to the side of his computer monitor.

**⇜ ⇝**

woojin’s handwritten list grows continuously over the next twelve hours but somehow the official report he’s typing doesn’t seem to fill as quickly as the paper in front of him. he sighs as he crosses another keyword.

> ~~27\. adorably obsessed with children’s songs~~

he faintly hears minho say bye for the day and responds something intelligible. a look at the clock on the wall tells him that he should be finishing up or he’ll miss the last train so he quickly concentrates on the report in front of him again.

**⇜ ⇝**

woojin is really glad to have three days off. after sleeping in the office for two nights in a row he’s more than happy to have his own bed back and the familiarity of his own apartment is even more comforting than usual. seungmin is sending him regular updates from his and hyunjin’s trip and by now he has a collection of embarrassing photos to tease hyunjin with if needed. there is a sequence of pictures that show hyunjin on the beach being pinched in the thigh by a small crab and jumping up and running away. woojin wonders if seungmin laughed as hard taking the pictures as he did seeing them.

it’s saturday afternoon when he decides that he shouldn’t be spending all his free time in his apartment and grabs his wallet and a light jacket to go for a coffee run. he notices halfway to the café that he forgot his phone at home and curses a little but it’s not like anything that required him to have his phone would happen anyway.

except it does. woojin really wishes he had his phone right now because then he would be able to pretend to be busy and he wouldn’t have to greet bang chan. the younger is sitting at a table near the counter of the café and waves at him when their eyes meet. woojin accepts his drink from the barista who smiles at him brightly and wishes him a nice day before reluctantly making his way over to chan’s table.

‘fancy seeing you here,’ chan greets him as he takes his bag from the chair next to him and gestures for the older to sit down. woojin just smiles lightly and follows the offer.

‘i haven’t seen you around campus lately? but i guess that’s pretty normal since our majors are completely different and there are no lectures right now.’ he laughs awkwardly and woojin nods.

chan looks like he’s about to start asking him a million question and woojin sends a silent prayer to whatever higher entity there is for something, anything to save him. he’s even worse at making up lies than he is at acting.

and somehow, his prayers are heard, because just when chan opens his mouth to speak again a phone rings. it’s not woojin’s obviously and since chan starts muttering an apology and frantically digging through his bag it’s very logical whose it is. the younger finds it after about seven seconds and his face contorts a little when he sees the caller id. woojin feels like he’s invading his privacy (pushing aside the fact that he’d been monitoring him for several days before).

‘what’s the matter, hyung?’ chan sounds a little annoyed.

woojin immediately knows that he’s talking to jeongwoong, the very reason why woojin is in this dilemma situation of having to spy on a (cute) innocent boy. he’s the only one chan uses honorifics for since all his other friends are either younger or the same age as him.

‘no, i can’t do that. it’s your part of the project.’ he stresses the _your_ more than would be necessary and the annoyance in his voice is so evident that woojin could almost feel bad for jeongwoong but his brain quickly reminds him that he is a criminal and he really doesn’t deserve pity from him.

the crease between chan’s eyebrows deepens and woojin has the sudden urge to rub calming circles on the back of the younger's hand. he clutches his cup a little tighter and the cardboard sleeve around it starts to wrinkle.

‘listen, hyung, i know you’re busy but so am i.’ chan sounds tired, not only because of the phone call. now that he’s aware of it woojin cannot unsee the dark circles under the younger's eyes. worry bubbles up in his stomach, but it feels like a different kind than the one he feels when minho stays at work three days in a row or hyunjin is doing a field mission. or maybe it’s not only worry.

**⇜ ⇝**

chan leaves right after hanging up and woojin feels terrible about the fact that the younger actually apologises to him. he reassures him that it’s okay and surely they’ll talk again but chan doesn’t look convinced and woojin wishes he could persuade him somehow and take at least that weight off his shoulders.

as he replays the phone call in his head a frown makes its way onto his face. chan’s creased forehead and tired voice are etched into his mind and he hates it. he’s even more determined to catch jeongwoong now and if hyunjin knew that he would probably never stop making fun of him. the only good thing that came out of this is the fact that he thinks he knows more about his suspect’s schedule since apparently his wednesday evenings and sunday noons were always booked with something he won’t tell chan about.

he texts this newly acquired information to minho as soon as he gets home and the younger only responds with a _meeting monday 11am_.

**⇜ ⇝**

‘minho, please. i can’t do this anymore,’ woojin sighs after looking at the file once more. the words _undercover mission_ and _seoul national university_ written in bold black letters are practically screaming at him. he had been aware that this meeting would have something to do with the jeongwoong mission and was happy about it but he was dreading this kind of approach.

hyunjin snickers. ‘what, lying to your boyfriend?’

‘hyunjin shut up, no one asked.’ woojin hopes his cheeks don’t look as hot as they feel. the air conditioning in their office wasn’t turned up anyway.

‘you didn’t deny it,’ hyunjin states dryly.

‘i wish you would go on vacation again.’

minho clears his throat and woojin turns his head from glaring at hyunjin back to him.

‘listen woojin, i know you hate undercover work, especially out in the open like that, but bang chan already trusts you and believes you’re a student there anyway. it’s the perfect cover.’ minho just sounds like he’s stating facts ( _which_ _he is_ , woojin’s mind helpfully provides) and woojin sighs. it’s not like he has a choice anyway.

‘when do i start?’ woojin asks, doing his best to ignore hyunjin’s snicker and concentrating on minho’s explanations instead.

**⇜ ⇝**

the door to his dorm room creaks when he opens it and he’s pretty sure that the lock in the door isn’t exactly a safety reassurance but that’s not important right now. he lets his bags fall on the floor and flinches a little when the floorboards make another creaky noise that sounds awfully close to breaking.

a few last rays of sunshine break through the half-shut blinds and provide some sparse lighting. woojin turns around to close the door and switch on the light. the room immediately looks a little less scary but the shabby feeling doesn’t really leave. he sighs and lets his eyes roam.

 _‘just make yourself at home,’_ minho had said. _‘think back to your years at the academy.’_ woojin had frowned at that and minho had quickly shut up.

his bags are giving him expectant looks but he sits down on the couch and takes out his phone instead.

 _you have (_ **_3_ ** _) new messages from_ **_hyunjin, minho_ ** _._

he decides that hyunjin would only tease him anyway and opens minho’s chat first.

_did you arrive safely?_

_set up your laptop i sent you an important file_

as much as woojin would like to procrastinate, the earlier he gets this job done the better. he quickly takes a look at hyunjin’s message and as he suspected it just says _seen your boyfriend yet?_ so he has every right to completely ignore it.

minho’s definition of an important file differs slightly from his, as woojin finds out. the file is just bang chan’s student record and woojin is pretty sure he knew all important parts already from surveilling the other for almost a week. all further information he knows will just make it unrealistic and make him look suspicious. (or at least that’s what he tells himself as he moves the document from his desktop into the recycle bin.)

**⇜ ⇝**

he meets chan three hours later when he goes on a grocery store run to buy some instant ramen and whatever else broke university students eat. they’re both standing in line at the cash register when chan taps on his shoulder and greets him with a blindingly bright smile. woojin smiles in return but he’s absolutely sure that it doesn’t look sincere at all. minho would laugh at him and his ‘not only poor but rather non-existent’ acting skills but woojin blames it on the fact that he was caught off-guard. he sends a silent apology (to who, he can’t really tell) and hopes he doesn’t scare chan off. for the mission.

chan doesn’t seem fazed by woojin’s behaviour and starts another conversation. he complains about a prof again - woojin thinks he recognises the name from the last time they talked - saying that she grades way too strictly. woojin’s part in the conversation mainly consists of nodding and humming from time to time until they are interrupted by the cashier. a light blush spreads over chan’s cheeks when the employee asks if their items go together and woojin quickly denies.

on the way back to the dorms, which chan decides they should walk together, woojin offers to help him with carrying his purchases but the younger just grins and shakes his head determinedly. it makes his curls look even messier and softer than before so woojin instinctively reaches out to fix them. he doesn’t have to reach up very high and suddenly he’s painfully aware of their height difference. as if the oversized sweater loosely hanging off chan’s shoulders didn’t make him look small enough already. he quickly pulls his hand away and picks up the pace so the other won’t see his flustered face. he’s not _blushing_ per se, but he doesn’t look completely unfazed either. he doesn’t see the blush on chan’s cheeks.

when they part in front of woojin’s room he pretends to not see chan’s curious glance into his room and just smiles as he bids his goodbye. this time, he’s sure that it looks sincere.

**⇜ ⇝**

woojin skips half of his classes and almost falls asleep in the rest of them. he may not have a degree in computer sciences but it’s the beginning of the semester and all the revision that they’re doing had been part of his training at the academy. sometimes he meets chan briefly, when his lectures are right after woojin's and their lecture halls are in the same building, and the younger greets him with an enthusiastic bright smile every single time. woojin smiles back and pretends to not hear the voice in the back of his head telling him that the circles under chan’s eyes are getting darker at almost the same rate as his.

minho checks with him every morning to go over the plan for the day and reminds him to get access to chan’s dorm room. he lets out a small victory scream when woojin reports that chan had invited him over to dinner the following day. woojin hears hyunjin giggling in the background of the call and decides to keep the detail of chan saying _i can’t let you live off instant ramen it’s unhealthy_ with sweet concern lacing his voice to himself. it’s not important to the mission anyway.

**⇜ ⇝**

7.28pm. chan wouldn’t find it weird if he was two minutes early. they literally live next door to each other. still, isn’t it impolite to be early? woojin looks at his watch for the third time. ten seconds have passed since the last time he checked. he looks back at the door and decides that screw it, he isn’t gonna stand in front of the door for 94 more seconds, that’s even weirder than being a tiny bit early.

exactly thirty-three seconds pass between his knock and the opening of the door. chan greets him with a blinding smile and woojin almost forgets that he’s on a mission. but this is his _job_ and he doesn’t have _time_ to be distracted by the dimples forming on chan’s cheeks.

woojin doesn’t really know how dinner with college friends (is that what chan and him are?) is supposed to go. during his years at the academy, he only ever ate dinner when minho was gracious enough to share his and they would mostly sit on their worn out mattresses in their dimly lit, unheated room. they never talked back then, but from the way chan initiates a conversation eagerly woojin guesses that this is what normal people do.

it’s fun. as usual, chan is the one initiating most conversation and keeping awkward silences away and woojin is the one listening, nodding and throwing in a word or two every once in a while. chan is either really good at cooking or woojin’s taste buds can’t be trusted since he’s only had instant ramen and take out for the past two weeks. he suspects a mix of both. regardless, he is really enjoying chan’s home-cooked meal. (his company too, but he pushes that thought to the very back of his mind.)

**⇜ ⇝**

woojin insists on helping chan with the dishes and they have a small fight about who drys and who washes them. somehow it ends up with chan tapping a bit of foam onto the tip of woojin’s nose and bursting into a fit of giggles. at the back of his head, woojin thinks he really likes this.

when they’re finished with the dishes chan tells him to sit down on the sofa and a few moments later he comes back with two glasses and a bottle of wine. he stands in the door frame for a few seconds before smiling at woojin and jokingly singing a single line of crush’s sofa. woojin tries really hard to keep a straight face because somehow chan’s voice sounds even softer than what he’s heard before.

chan sits down next to him and offers the older a glass. the room is only dimly lit and the light of the small floor lamp makes chan’s facial features look even softer. his curls only seem to get messier and cuter by the second and when he looks woojin in the eye as they clink glasses there are sparks in them. maybe it’s a trick of the light or woojin’s imagination but it looks like chan is holding a galaxy in his eyes.

the wine bottle is half empty by the time chan decides to put on a movie, which he refuses to tell woojin the title of. when he sits back down on the sofa woojin is pretty sure that he is sitting closer to him than before. their knees are touching now and woojin honestly wants to pay attention to the movie because he still hasn’t figured out what they’re actually watching but he’s very distracted by how _warm_ chan’s proximity makes him feel. it’s electrifying. the younger moves even closer and lets his head rest on woojin’s shoulder. it makes him stiffen and the feeling of the electric current running through his veins intensifies.

‘hey, woojin?’ chan’s voice sounds different from usual. more accented, deeper. woojin wonders if it’s the alcohol.

‘you never talk about yourself,’ chan continues, ‘i wanna know more about you.’

at least now he has a good reason to be tense. he has a foolproof backstory prepared that chan wouldn’t even be able to question in an absolutely sober state but the words get stuck in his throat. the situation feels too _real_ and he thinks he hears hyunjin laugh at him at the back of his mind.

‘there’s nothing to know about me,’ he says and chan lets out a giggle that makes woojin’s heart contract in a painful way.

‘i don’t believe you.’ the younger takes another sip from his wine glass. his cheeks are starting to resemble the colour of his drink more and more. woojin finds it captivating but he quickly averts his gaze when he catches himself staring for a few (many) more seconds than necessary.

**⇜ ⇝**

it’s three minutes to midnight when woojin opens the door to his own dorm room. he slips out of his shoes and slowly stumbles towards his bed. he decides against changing into pyjamas for the night and just closes his eyes. sleep overcomes him very quickly but just when he feels himself fully drifting off his peacefulness is interrupted by the sharp ringing of his phone.

‘there better be an emergency,’ he mumbles to himself as he picks up the device. minho’s name and contact picture (it’s a selfie of him with his cat, woojin doesn’t remember setting it so minho probably got a hold of his phone again) light up the screen.

he picks up and grumbles an incomprehensible greeting that minho returns with a much too enthusiastic one. woojin looks at the clock on the wall. 12.04am.

‘you were with him until now? wow, you better have tons of information now.’ minho laughs.

woojin frowns. ‘i do,’ he says slowly. he blinks a few times and stifles a yawn. ‘can i tell you tomorrow, i’m tired.’

technically that should be a question but woojin really is drained so it’s more of a statement. he blames the alcohol in his system for the tiredness. minho lets out a small, disappointed sigh but agrees and woojin just hangs up without a goodbye. he knows that the younger will scold him for that tomorrow but at the time he doesn’t care anymore. he’s tired, he still feels a bit buzzed from the wine and just a tad bit confused.

**⇜ ⇝**

‘just tell him, woojin, he’s clean. he could even be of use if we’re smart. we have enough against jeongwoong to make an offence. we could use a bait.’ minho doesn’t even bat an eyelash as he says it and continues scrolling through his phone.

woojin hesitates. minho is right, they probably would be able to execute their plan much easier and safer if they used a believable bait. on the other hand, getting a civilian involved shouldn’t be the solution to anything.

‘don’t worry, we won’t get your boyfriend injured.’ hyunjin shoots him an innocent smile.

‘still not my boyfriend.’

‘yet,’ hyunjin hums, just loud enough for woojin to hear.

‘please shut up, hyunjin.’ he turns to minho. ‘i’ll do it, under one condition.’

**⇜ ⇝**

for a professional secret agent, woojin is far too nervous about this. his eyes have been glued to the door of his dorm room for the last seven minutes and thirty-two seconds (not that he’s been counting) even though he isn’t expecting chan to come for another three minutes and four seconds (again, not counting). time seems to tick by painfully slowly and simultaneously awfully quickly and before he knows it chan is sitting next to him on the couch with his legs crossed.

‘what did you want to talk about?’

woojin sucks the air in sharply and even though he is prepared for this very reasonable and expected question his mouth goes dry. chan’s eyes are full of patience, but also innocence and something else woojin can’t quite read.

‘promise you won’t freak out? or hate me?’

chan tilts his head. ‘why would i? woojin, just do it. like ripping off a band-aid. quick and painless.’

woojin relaxes slightly but he doesn’t register the small yet victorious smile on chan’s lips when his shoulders drop a bit. ‘ripping off a band-aid hurts like a bitch.’

‘i admit, not my best analogy. but seriously, don’t worry.’ chan grabs woojin’s hand and it feels as electrifying as it feels calming.

he takes a deep breath and looks at chan’s face for confirmation once more before hesitantly starting to speak.

‘i know this will all sound a little - scratch that, very unbelievable but i promise i am only telling the truth and i need you to believe and trust me.’

‘what are you saying, of course, i trust y-’

‘just listen,’ woojin interrupts him and chan quickly closes his mouth.

‘i’m not actually studying at this university. i actually have a fully finished training and i’ve been employed for almost two years.’ the younger blinks a little in confusion but he doesn’t look weirded out. _yet_ , woojin’s brain adds. ‘i work for an intelligence service of sorts and i’m currently on a case involving a pretty big drug ring. we’ve already identified the centres of the organisation and we’re closing in on their biggest distributors.’ he makes a pause to give chan a little time to process but so far the younger doesn’t seem too overwhelmed. surprised, yes. confused as well, but there is no trace of overload evident in his face. furthermore, he is still holding woojin’s hand so it can’t be that bad. _yet._

‘before you ask, yes, kim woojin is my real name and i really am your age. the only lies i’ve told you were that i was studying here and that i didn’t know you were australian. that was in your student record.’ chan smiles at that and woojin thinks he’s gonna cry if the other continues to be so sweet and understanding about this. his job is pretty damn ominous and scary and he’s aware of that, so shouldn’t chan be at least a bit shocked? disgusted? creeped out?

‘the name of the distributor i’m onto is ha jeongwoong.’ chan’s mouth drops open and then slowly closes again. woojin continues, ‘i’ve been assigned to monitor you because you’re the only person close to him that seems trustworthy and, sorry to say that, gullible enough.’ chan shrugs as if to say _‘fair’_ and woojin feels his heart burst a little. ‘we’re planning to take him down at the same time as the other people involved and after debating we chose that we would want to use you as a sort of bait if you are okay with it. there will be trained agents with you and it’s pretty much assured that you’ll get out unscathed. it would just really help us with the mission.’

chan is silent for a painstakingly long time and woojin quickly adds, ‘of course you can think about it for a night, but i’ll need you to tell me by noon tomorrow. if you say no we can still change plans by then.’

the younger nods slowly and if he hadn’t still been holding onto his hand, woojin would have thought chan was going to leave and never talk to him again and possibly even ruin the mission.

**⇝ ⇜**

‘i can’t believe i said yes to this,’ chan mutters as he takes the heavy bulletproof vest from hyunjin.

the younger chuckles. ‘me neither to be honest, woojin hyung is the worst at convincing people to do anything.’

chan isn’t sure what to answer to that so he just nods.

after that everything is a blur. he feels woojin squeeze his hand before the older goes to hide and leaves him standing alone in the basketball court he asked jeongwoong to meet him in. a few moments later (he can’t tell whether it’s been minutes, seconds or hours) a gunshot falls and then another and then there is a pain shooting from the right side of his torso to the rest of his body and he can’t really move anymore. he hears shouting and faintly registers someone carrying him and setting him down a few feet away. the person tells him something but chan can’t process the meaning of the words and so he doesn’t do anything and hopes that it’s not a mistake.

**⇝ ⇜**

he blinks, two, three times in a row, a little too quickly and chan squeezes his hand.

‘don’t cry woojinnie, i’ll be okay.’

woojin can hear from the tremble in the younger’s voice that he’s not too sure himself but he wants to believe him nonetheless. he doesn’t trust his voice yet so he just nods and squeezes chan’s hand back. his shoulder hurts like hell but he can’t be bothered by it, not when chan’s face is getting paler by the second and his grip on woojin’s hand seems to get weaker too.

all woojin recalls from the ride to their headquarters (or maybe somewhere else, he really isn’t listening properly) is minho carefully grabbing his face and asking him a bunch of questions he couldn’t quite answer. he also thinks he remembers hyunjin prying minho away from him but it’s all somehow blurry in his mind.

right now, his vision is still blurred, he’s not sure whether he’s still teary-eyed or the lights are just too damn bright, but his head is clearing out. he sits up and despite his limited eyesight, he recognises the room as a hospital room.

‘how are you feeling?’ minho asks.

woojin whips his head into the direction of his voice and sees his partner standing in the door frame. he can’t make out his expression yet with his vision still blurry but the tone of his voice suggests concern.

‘how’s chan?’ he asks instead of answering the question. he’s actually not sure how he feels at all. ‘and did everything work out?’

minho starts walking towards him and now that woojin can see his face more clearly there really is concern in his eyes but also slight smile adorning his lips. it’s reassuring because minho never hides behind a forced expression, so this _has_ to be a good sign.

‘the mission was a success. your last shot got him in the leg and hyunjin was able to catch him easily after that. seungmin is taking care of the rest, he practically ordered hyunjin to go home and rest. i’ve never seen him that angry actually. he’s a little scary.’ minho lets out a breathy laugh.

woojin relaxes into his pillows. _the mission was a success._

‘chan is alright too.’ minho looks like he wants to elaborate but stops and examines woojin’s face for a few seconds.

‘are you aware that you look like an idiot smiling like that?’

his voice is soft and woojin knows that there’s no harm in his words but it still makes him feel flustered. he looks away from the younger to face the white curtains of the hospital room but that just makes him feel dizzy and weird so he reluctantly moves his head back.

‘the stabs only scratched the surface of his skin. they didn’t affect any organs because of the vest, the main problem was the blood loss he sustained, but he’ll be alright after a bit more rest.’ minho examines him. ‘you should rest a bit more too, a gunshot wound is not something to take lightly under any circumstances. don’t worry, you’ll get to see him soon enough.’

with that minho turns around to leave the room again but not before giving woojin a knowing wink. the older just shoots him a weak glare.

**⇜ ⇝**

it’s almost scary how easily things fall into place after that. chan comes to visit his hospital room the third day they are there (which happens to be the first day they’re both allowed to leave their rooms again and woojin likes to think that means something special) and they talk almost as naturally as they did before the whole _taking down a drug ring_ operation.

almost, because for the first two days they’re both a little awkward with each other, but only until hyunjin and seungmin visit him and chan accidentally overhears hyunjin’s - by now regular - teasing about woojin’s painfully obvious crush and they end up sharing a shy kiss on the hospital balcony. after that, the awkwardness fades away and is replaced by intertwined fingers, small kisses and soft whispers.

minho doesn’t question anything when he sees them the next time and just gives woojin a knowing look and warm smile. woojin appreciates it all the more when hyunjin reacts with a hospital inappropriate yell upon witnessing chan kissing woojin’s forehead.

**⇜ ⇝**

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah. that was it. my baby is done now TT
> 
> if the ending seems rushed i'm sorry? oof. as i said in the tags i might make a sequel of sorts someday but i'm not promising anything. however as i also said i have more woochan planned and there will definitely be more domestic stuff in other fics uwu
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this still, leave kudos or drop a comment, i appreciate it more than you could ever understand!
> 
> or just yell at me on twitter @yeiiowpostits !


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